The finest Craftsman house in Pasadena, built in 1908 by architects Greene and Greene. The style is Charles Rennie Macintosh with a Pacific Rim twist; everything, down to the light switches, was specifically designed for this house. It also has a great bookshop, with a huge selection of books on design, architecture and art.

Orange Boulevard, Pasadena
www.gamblehouse.org

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Look at the paintings if you must, but the external beauty of the gardens and the building itself are perhaps more engaging. The smoggy views of the city over the cactus rooftop are awesome.

On the outskirts somewhere

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The Getty, positioned atop a sheer hillside looking down on Santa Monica and the ocean. From the winding monorail taking visitors from the car park to architect Richard Meier's modern monument to art, the Getty is an adventure, a trip to a world apart stuffed with some of the finest art that money (and the Getty has a lot of it) can buy. Touring exhibitions complement a comprehensive permanent collection (although the Getty does not generally collect contemporary art) but the Getty is an event in itself.

Admission: free; www.getty.edu/

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Large and varied collection includes more Degas than you would expect, extraordinary French impressionists, memorable Old Masters. Outside you are surrounded by bamboo trees & water gardens. Worth the trip.

Pasadena (www.nortonsimon.org)

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A little bit of sweet lyricism in the vastness, the Watts Towers are Italian immigrant Simon Rodia's outsider contribution to LA architecture.
Go. They might make you cry.

Read all about it at the urls below.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Towers

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No excuse not to visit this beauty - a classic of early modernist architecture - built sparingly from redwood, glass and concrete, with open air fireplaces, courtyards and tall bamboo hedges. Bang in west Hollywood THE best antidote to LA's frenetic pace - afterwards take a walk around the leafy spanish-style bungalows and dream of LA Confidential.

R.M. Schindler Studio and Residence
835 North Kings Road
West Hollywood, CA 90069-5409
www.makcenter.org/
open wed-sun, 11-6.

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This is an amazing art museum in Pasadena. It has quite a small collection, but its quality surpasses that of the Getty. It also has a small but lovely garden.

You can get there on the Metro, though natives of LA will not believe you.
www.nortonsimon.org

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The Huntington institution is a massive estate at San Marino featuring botanical gardens, a library, art galleries and more. They even have Gainsborough's Blue Boy! Admission is free on the first Thursday of every month.

www.huntington.org/

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